R&K Insider: A long journey from Michigan to Mexico

Jun222018

Jun222018

This week on Roads & Kingdoms, we published an interview with a photographer who followed a family that was sent back to Mexico after living in the United States for 20 years. Plus, a look at Russia through the lens of soccer.

How is your World Cup team doing so far? Usually, the depressing phase of the tournament begins after the third week, but this year, it feels like the heartbreaks are happening too early and too quickly. My solidarity with all the Peru and Egypt fans.

One country that not many (or any, to be honest) soccer fans expected to do well but has made it to the next round is the host nation: Russia. Russians, though excited about their country hosting the games, have remained pessimistic about their team’s prospects—both in the World Cup and in international tournaments in general.

Earlier this week, we published a photo essay by Goal Click, a project that worked with local photographers to document some often-ignored parts of the country through the lens of soccer. What they found is that even though the World Cup may not solve Russia’s—and its football team’s—problems, it has already started a conversation on how they can fix them.

This has also been an equally depressing week in the United States, as reports of children—some as young as three—being separated from their parents at the border dominated the news cycle. More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last two months, while deportations of families who have lived in the United States for most of their lives continues.

Earlier this week, we published a Q&A with a young American photographer who followed one such family from Michigan to Mexico. Lourdes Salazar Bautista, who lived in the United States for 20 years, lost her immigration court battle last year and left the country with her son and her daughter. Photographer Rachel Woolf, who started documenting their lives from the day of the court hearing, followed them to Mexico, where the family is struggling to adjust to their new lives.

The heartbreaking image at the top of this newsletter captures an emotional moment after the son’s teacher came running through the airport looking for him, as he is about to leave for Mexico with his mother. Read our interview with the photographer here.

We also have this great piece on a group of fishermen from a tiny town in Catalonia who toil from dawn to dusk to bring the renowned red shrimp, “Gamba de Palamós,” from deep sea to your dining tables. Prized for their vermillion color, firm texture, and sweet flesh, prawns from Palamós can sell for up to $100 per pound around Christmas and the New Year.